Irene Demas and Tony Demas of Ontario, Canada, are now richer by hundreds of thousands of dollars, thanks to a rare painting that landed in their possession many decades ago. It all began in the early 1970s when the couple established an eatery in the city of London called The Villa. At the time, Irene was a 19-year-old newlywed, while Tony worked in real estate!
When he discovered a building that used to house a restaurant, he brought up the idea of opening one of their own. Irene had no culinary experience and had never imagined herself working in a restaurant kitchen. But on the Villa’s first day, the chef had too many beers, and Tony asked his wife to take over.
“I knew nothing honestly about food,” Irene said. “But I did know how to make a grilled cheese, so I thought, ‘OK, our special’s just going to be grilled cheese sandwiches. That’s it.’ That’s the only thing I knew how to (make) … and maybe boil water.” Irene uses five-year-old cheddar and freshly baked artisan bread to make her famous grilled cheese sandwiches, which became a hit and helped the restaurant stay afloat.
Around 1973, future regulars Audrey and John Kinnear came to the restaurant. The two couples became friends and soon began making some trades, which was usual in the ‘70s. John started bringing in some of his art and asked Tony if they could trade his daily grilled cheese sandwiches orders for art. Luckily, Irene and Tony genuinely loved his watercolor creations.
“We never really kept tabs, to say, ‘OK, well, you were in, and you spent $15. Now, you know, you’re gonna give us $15 credit,’” Irene explained. “There was such a wonderful relationship with the Kinnears.”One day, John brought pieces of art that weren’t his own to trade. They were made by a folk artist he’d met named Maud Lewis, who had limited mobility and was of simple means.
“(Kinnear) came in with this very strange-looking art. It was on board, unframed, a very childlike, very primitive art that I’d never seen before,” Irene said. “I’m not an art expert, and we weren’t art collectors. We just knew what we liked.” But one painting stood out to her—that of a black truck with a bright yellow background. She was pregnant at the time and thought that if they were to have a boy, they could hang it in his room.
Irene made the correct choice because they did have a boy. She framed the picture and hung it in her newborn son’s room, along with a few handwritten messages Lewis had sent to John. Lewis, who lived in Nova Scotia and never made a living from her painting, became a topic of attention in the art world decades later.
It wasn’t until about the year 2000 that Irene started hearing the name John had mentioned to her decades previously. More individuals started collecting and purchasing Maud Lewis paintings, and her work would fetch $2,000 to $3,000 at auction at the time. “But, as I said, I wasn’t really looking into it since, as I said, we loved the piece,” Irene explained. “We didn’t acquire it as an investment or because we thought it was a beautiful work of art.”
Several auctioneers came after Irene, but two brothers from Miller & Miller Auctions were unfazed. They met with Irene and Tony in person and gave them a box of butter tarts. Irene put the sculpture up for auction not long after their encounter, thanks to urging from her daughters. The picture sold for CA$350,000 (US$278,789) and the letters for CA$70,000 (US$55,758) on May 14.
Parting with the picture they’d kept for decades was difficult, but Irene assured them that their proceeds would be put to good use. Both are retired, although Irene works as a private chef on the side, while Tony, at 90, has been traveling. “If it hadn’t been for the grilled cheese, it would have just been another Maud Lewis picture up for auction,” Irene explained.
“I believe it would have broken all records because it is such a rare and unusual artwork and with the lettering, but I think it was the grilled cheese narrative that really let people in the globe know that it was there.”